Samsung Spinpoint SP2504C motor

[alexo]

Hello,

I am about to buy a Samsung Spinpoint SP2504C (250GB)
I heard that they can come with different motors.

Is there a difference in performance / noise / heat between the different motors?
How can I tell which motor the drive has?
Can I tell without opening the box?

Thanks,
Alex.

[piotrgurin]

it says right on the motor, samsung drives usually come packed in clear plastic so u can tell right away.

If i'm correct there are two motors, nidec and jvc.

You wan the nidec.

[alexo]

it says right on the motor, samsung drives usually come packed in clear plastic so u can tell right away.

If i'm correct there are two motors, nidec and jvc.

You wan the nidec.

Um, according to this, the Nidec has higher vibration.

[BrianE]

Um, according to this, the Nidec has higher vibration.

Just do a search for JVC and Nidec in the same thread. This has been discussed a lot before.

[mrk22]

If making quiet drives is a high priority for Samsung, why would they continue to use JVC motors? High-pitch whining is the worst of the worst when it comes to hard drive noise.

The use of two motors like this makes it practically impossible to order a Samsung drive online as most vendors will not guarantee you will receive a drive with a Nidec motor.

[len509]

I am about to buy a Samsung Spinpoint SP2504C (250GB)
I heard that they can come with different motors.

I've read differently. I thought the newer 200GB and 250GB models only come with Nidec motors now. Here's two older threads:
Samsung SP2504C (250GB) or Maxtor Diamondmax SB250 (250GB)
Where to find a NIDEC Samsung?

[~El~Jefe~]

yeah only nidec

[alexo]

Thanks.

Got it from Computerlink Systems.

[Edirol]

Just to let everyone know. I was at ComputerLink and they don't stock most of the stuff they have on their website.

Stock Available = "We can order it".

[alexo]

Just to let everyone know. I was at ComputerLink and they don't stock most of the stuff they have on their website.

Stock Available = "We can order it".

A lot of stores do that. I always call ahead.

[CraiginNJ]

fwiw, newegg just started carrying the sp2504c and I immediately ordered a couple. I haven't tried them yet, but the pair I received are marked has having nidec motors.

Craig in NJ

[spcr_log]

I just got two spinpoints 2504C disks. and they are very silent. However, they both have a lot of motor vibration.
When I put one of them in my case, one can feel the case vibrating a lot, but when I put two of them in, they start to interfere with each other, and cause a very LOUD low sound, which is highly irritating.

So watch out. I returned both of the disks. They did not have the FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) stamp on the motor. Finding two that do have that stamp turns out to be very hard (if not impossible)

I ordered two again, from a company that claims to have them, but that company is too big to make it logistical possible for them to really look at the motor.

[sthayashi]

So watch out. I returned both of the disks. They did not have the FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) stamp on the motor. Finding two that do have that stamp turns out to be very hard (if not impossible)

I had thought that most drives these days use FDBs. You'd know it if it didn't.

[JonV]

So watch out. I returned both of the disks. They did not have the FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) stamp on the motor. Finding two that do have that stamp turns out to be very hard (if not impossible)

I had thought that most drives these days use FDBs. You'd know it if it didn't.

I second this... I really doubt Samsung makes any non-FDB 2504Cs. The lack of a stamp might not mean anything much. (What stamp is this you're referring to, anyway?)

I have two of these myself, and they do vibrate a quite a bit - all hard drives do. SPCR's review of the 200GB model rated it as 5 out of 10 vibration-wise, which makes it fairly average, definitely worse than some other models from Seagate and WD. Given a vibration-prone case I'm sure they can be quite noisy.

I have mine mounted inside Nexus Drive-A-Ways, and even with the vibration dampening offered by the enclosure they transmit a fair amount of vibration to my P180 when mounted in the upper 5.25" bays. I will be moving them - it's definitely the worst place I could put them when it comes to vibration, it just happened to be the only place they would fit.

[Edirol]

I got the 2 HDs from CompuLink and they both had NIDEC motors. One other note about CompuLink. They didn't provide me with an in-store warranty. So if I run into any probs, I just got the manufacturer's 3 warranty.

Generally, OK, but now I'm gonna have to fork out money to mail the drive(s) to Samsung if they die in the first year (which I've had happen on my SP1213N).

Regarding vibration, I have the 2 drives stacked on soft foam. I'm gonna go play around with the AAM settings now.

Ciao,
- Will

[Edirol]

I'm mostly concerned with idle noise so I turn off AAM. Also the SP2504C (P120/250GB/SATA/8MB) came with AAM disabled by default.

I had to enable it with Hitachi Featuretool 1.98 (nice that it comes in bootable ISO format). Strangely, the Samsung HUTIL 1.25 tool did not recognize the SATA drives however it did recognise the IDE one.

Here are some casual benchmarks with HD Tune 2.10 (Configured for "fast" tests)

AAM off
SP1213N (P80/120GB/IDE/8MB)
47.9MB/s average read
13.9ms average seek

AAM off
SP2504C (P120/250GB/SATA/8MB)
59.3MB/s average read
14.4ms average seek

AAM on at the quietest setting (128)
SP2504C (P120/250GB/SATA/8MB)
59.0MS/s average read
17.8ms average seek

I have to note that I have two SP2504Cs setup in RAID1 using the onboard RAID controller of the MSI Neo 2 Platinum. I'm thinking that should affect the results a bit (increase throughput, slower seek times).

As an aside, does anyone know if having the SATA drives plugged into the same "channel" (SATA3/4 on my mobo), will cause a bottleneck? I know that with IDE if you have two devices on one IDE channel the devices won't run at optimal speed.

[spcr_log]

I second this... I really doubt Samsung makes any non-FDB 2504Cs. The lack of a stamp might not mean anything much. (What stamp is this you're referring to, anyway?)

see http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=11832 there is a poll about jvc vs. Nidec motor and motor with or withour FDB stamp (with image of the stamp)

the case itself is a lian li v1100, which comes standard with damped sidepanels. so it shouldn't be really vibration-prone.
One solution would be to use some rubber mounting, however that always uses a 5.25" bay. This case is special and has separate compartments for power supply, motherboard, and harddisks. The idea is to prevent heat going from one compartment to another, reducing the cooling requirements and noise. The special disk compartment has six slots for 3.5" disks, so there is no room for rubber mounting.
Disks are already on some plastic rail, instead of screwed to the case.


Note that I was talking about motor vibration, so AAM would help (it is possibly helpful in reducing seek vibration)

[wim]

I second this... I really doubt Samsung makes any non-FDB 2504Cs. The lack of a stamp might not mean anything much. (What stamp is this you're referring to, anyway?)

see http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=11832 there is a poll about jvc vs. Nidec motor and motor with or withour FDB stamp (with image of the stamp)

that's for the P80 (older drives)
2504C are P120 product line and as far as we know they are only using the nidec motors now

[sthayashi]

the case itself is a lian li v1100, which comes standard with damped sidepanels. so it shouldn't be really vibration-prone.

poorly damped sidepanels != vibration-noise prevention.

FWIW, unsuspended Samsungs can vibrate and rattle damped STEEL cases. Thin Aluminum cases don't stand much of a chance.

[Lards]

As an aside, does anyone know if having the SATA drives plugged into the same "channel" (SATA3/4 on my mobo), will cause a bottleneck? I know that with IDE if you have two devices on one IDE channel the devices won't run at optimal speed.

SATA drives all run on separate channels, so there is no problem which port you plug them into.